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Encyclopedia of society and culture in the ancient world ( PDFDrive ) 1224

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war and conquest: Egypt ing the organization of its infantry forces and bombarding them with arrows However, the chariot’s use as a mobile platform from which archers could shoot their targets was only secondary Chariots were expensive to maintain Each vehicle required at least four horses, which needed fodder, tending, and specialized care Eventually, the chariot became “a status symbol, and in the case of the king a surrogate throne.” A mid-Eighteenth-Dynasty title, commander of horsemen, suggests the existence of a sort of cavalry or mounted troops This is further corroborated by scenes from the tomb of Horemhet from Saqqara, which clearly depict the cavalry as an arm of the chariotry Further evidence suggests that the cavalry unit was used extensively in Sheshonq I’s Palestinian campaign of around 925 b.c.e Egypt’s location on the Mediterranean subjected it to repeated attacks from the Sea Peoples, first during the reign of King Merneptah (ca 1224–ca 1214 b.c.e.) and later under Ramses III (ca 1194–ca 1163 b.c.e.) These invaders were groups of migrants who swept through the Mediterranean world in the 11th century b.c.e Although the exact reason for this massive population movement remains elusive, possible reasons include severe climatic changes in the northern and western Mediterranean Pictorial evidence of Ramses III’s naval battle against the invading Sea Peoples survives on the walls of his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu The evidence preserved there constitutes the only known example of an active naval engagement The scenes indicate that during the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom the Egyptians commanded large seafaring vessels The evidence also suggests the existence of naval ranks and titles, and military ships had specific designations Earlier in the struggle against the Hyksos and later during Piye’s 25th march into Egypt, ships were used to transport troops north But the reliefs of Medinet Habu clearly depict troops fighting from onboard ships, although the specifics of conducting naval battles cannot be reconstructed Along with distinct naval ranks and titles, the evidence suggests that during the New Kingdom the Egyptian forces were finally divided into distinct units, each exhibiting a clear hierarchy of ranked officials The units were organized according to their modes of transportation Foot soldiers, or infantry troops, made up by far the largest units Indeed, the evidence suggests that this was the only type of unit up to the beginning of the New Kingdom The accounts of two major battles (Megiddo and Kadesh) shed light on New Kingdom warfare The two accounts are propagandistic in nature, concerned primarily with the exultation of the king and expounding on his role as the great warrior-savior in great detail Although their propagandistic tone makes the reliability of the numbers (of troops as well as booty) mentioned there quite unreliable, they remain our only primary source on warfare, strategy, and battle moves in ancient Egypt Prompted by rumors of a coalition of western Asiatic rulers, Thutmose III launched a preemptive campaign into 1129 Syria-Palestine in his first year of sole reign (ca 1458 b.c.e.) The confrontation between the two armies took place on the plains of Jezreel across from the Canaanite city of Megiddo Written in literary form, numerous accounts of the battle of Megiddo were engraved on Egyptian temple walls, the most extensive preserved on the walls of the Amun temple at Karnak As in similar works of this literary genre, the author goes to great lengths to demonstrate the king’s military prowess and strategic brilliance The propagandistic tenor of the text is clear in its introductory lines, which give the complete titles of the king: “Mighty Bull, Shining in Thebes; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands; Menkheperre; Son of Re.” The text then relates how all the victories he enjoyed in battle were granted him by “his father Re [the sun god].” Under the pretext of quenching perceived rebellion, Thutmose III decided to march against the Asiatics at a time when they seemed to have “fallen into disagreement,” when their infighting would have made them an easy target The account engraved at the Amun temple details the events of the battle: the troops marched “out of Egypt to Gaza, then along the coast of Canaan to the entrance of the Aruna Pass” (probably the Wadi Ara near modern Hadera) Giving this account its particular historical appeal is the seemingly accurate date provided at the beginning of the narrative The troops set out in Thutmose III’s 22nd regnal year, on the 25th day of the fourth month of Peret (the winter season) The text also records the date that the king arrived at his destination at the city of Yehem in western Asia: year 23, first month of Shemu (the summer season), on the 16th day On his arrival, however, Thutmose III convened a council of war and received bad advice: to take “a safer route toward Megiddo.” The king ignored the advice of his courtiers, deciding instead to take the dangerous crossing of “the Carmel ridge via the Aruna Pass” and enter the Jezreel Valley just outside of the city of Megiddo He “commanded his entire army to march on that road, which threatened to be narrow His majesty swore, saying, “None shall go forth in the way before my majesty He went forth at the head of his army himself, showing the way by his own footsteps; horse behind horse, his majesty being at the head of his army.” At seeing the king, considered a divine being, the enemy troops fled into disarray According to the inscription preserved on a stela in Napata (a city in Nubia, in modern Sudan), the Egyptian forces then laid siege to the city of Megiddo until its leaders surrendered The text gives a vivid description of the surrender and details the booty carried off by the Egyptian troops, giving exact numbers for prisoners of war captured (340), enemy troops killed (83), mares taken (2,041), and stallions seized (6) The text further details the finery of a gold chariots seized and records that 200 suits of armor were taken Significantly, it does not mention the number of Egyptian troops deployed for battle, and there is no mention of how long the march (or the battle) lasted The battle of Qadesh, fought in the fourth year of the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II (ca 1274 b.c.e.) at Tell Nebi

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